(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a turning radius system for an automobile, and, more particularly, to an improved minimal turning radius control system capable of optimally controlling a minimal turning radius according to a load of vehicle.
(b) Description of the Related Art
When a vehicle having a large turning radius makes a U-turn on a limited-width road, the driver needs to perform several steering operations to complete the U-turn, which occasionally causes traffic congestion as well as being bothersome to the driver.
Nowadays, as the overall lengths of oversize passenger cars increase, the turning radius problem is becoming more serious.
This turning radius problem appears particularly in front-engine front wheel drive vehicles in which the engine is mounted transversely because the engine in such vehicles occupies much space in both the left and right hand sides the of the vehicle engine compartment. With this engine-mounting configuration, it is difficult to secure enough space for the steering of the front wheels.
Generally, the steering stroke in a steering gear box is set in such a way that when a vehicle having tire chains on the front wheels is operating in a worst case condition, a minimal gap between the a wheel and side member and other elements is maintained.
In such a steering gear box setting, when common width tires without chains are mounted to the vehicle, excessive space exists between the wheel and vehicle body such that steering angles of the wheel are wasted.
Although the turning radius in a vehicle, especially in higher end passenger cars, is an important element influencing the commodity value of the vehicle, it is likely to be not appropriately considered during the designing the vehicle.
The present invention has been made in an effort to solve the above problems of the prior art.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a minimal turning radius control system capable of optimally minimizing the turning radius of a vehicle according to a vehicle""s load detected at the start of travel for when the vehicle makes a U-turn.
To achieve the above object, the minimum turning radius control system comprises a sensing means for sensing a height of a vehicle body, a pair of actuators which is controlled by an electronic control unit (ECU) according to a height of the vehicle, and a pair of steering stroke adjusting means which are actuated by actuators for adjusting steering stroke.